Perturbation effects in orbital elements of CubeSats

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the perturbations in CubeSat's orbital elements in low Earth orbits (LEO) using the Cowell's method. The disturbing forces are driving the satellite (the satellite's trajectory) away from Keplerian orbit, therefore produce a change in Keplerian orbital elements over time. In this paper, after introducing the perturbing forces acting on a satellite in LEO, the methods of converting the orbital elements into state vector and the opposite are being presented, and in the end, the perturbations in orbital elements of CubeSats in LEO are evaluated.